Column

From my seat: Oldham (A)

Rip-roaring cup-tie as Everton stooped in class to match a determined Oldham side and produce a performance that had Blues fans tearing their hair out as they urged them to win the ball with power and fight and then use it with accuracy and thought instead of quite a bit of aimless percentage stuff which Oldham found to their liking as it reflected the league they play in.

Rip-roaring cup-tie as Everton stooped in class to match a determined Oldham side and produce a performance that had Blues fans tearing their hair out as they urged them to win the ball with power and fight and then use it with accuracy and thought instead of quite a bit of aimless percentage stuff which Oldham found to their liking as it reflected the league they play in.

The game started as it was to unfold with Everton attacks floundering on a determined rear-guard and they were not slow to threaten on the break – especially as they saw us push more men forward than necessary. I know cup ties are different to league games but I have seen enough of them in my time to have to wonder why on so many occasions do we play as though we need to match the opposition rather than make the opposition match us; equally, I suppose this could be said for many Prem teams when facing lower league opposition.

The foregoing took place in graphic fashion on the quarter-hour when, from a free-kick taken by Baines, we gained a corner as the ball clipped the wall. From that corner, we were caught good and proper with a classic counter-attack as the ball was heaved clear toward the wing where Croft easily rolled Osman on half way and set off unattended toward goal. A two-on-two. To his left was their winger making ground pursued by Gibson but as the cross was put toward the far post Gibson stopped running and allowed the winger to poke home into an empty net. Some players claimed offside but what happened to play to the whistle?

A goal down due to a bit of sloppy play and underestimating a lower league side's ability to counter at pace. Our end silence, the other three sides mayhem.

To be fair, we didn't sulk after this setback and attacked with a mixture of joined-up stuff and a fair few percentage balls as we tended to run out of ideas around their box. However, on the half-hour another percentage ball was flighted up toward Jelavic in the box and he won his header well, from what I could see, the ball fell between Vic and a defender and for once Vic used his strength to good effect and won the ball then smashed it with such force that although close to the keeper he hardly moved as the ball hit the net. Pandemonium at one end the other three quiet as the grave.

"Now we can move on and put this to bed" thought many... but cup football just doesn't seem to follow any normal pattern and it wasn't long before we were fortunate again as, from another Oldham counter, the left-back was again allowed room to get a ball into the box and it broke to the left winger who shot through a ruck of players and hit the post. A corner was given so it must have been deflected.

From this scare, we then had a good spell of joined-up stuff, creating chances in their final third with a regularity that saw their raids be less than sporadic. Fellaini headed over, Jelavic just could not reach a cross that begged to be converted. Pienaar had an effort from distance – its description is best left as 'went wide'...

As the half was drawing to a close, we were the better side all round and at last seemed to be coming to terms with a right uneven and bobbly pitch which gave us hope for a second half that would see us into the quarter-final.

Half-time and the chat was surprisingly less on the Moyes front and more on the team performance and an urge to have Mirallas introduced – especially as Victor limped off yet again on the half-time whistle. One big lad with one big injury list.

The half started with the wish granted: Mirallas replaced Victor and, from the off, he looked bright and we looked more balanced. Within a few minutes, the move paid off when the strong running Mirallas was instrumental in forcing a corner which he took – and what a delivery it was! With the usual wrestling going on unchecked in the box, the wicked speedy arcing delivery reached the six-yard box and the ball hit the net. As the players got to their feet from an unseemly pile, the congrats were for Jags as the Blue end went mental – and, by the way the players celebrated, the Moyes situation is not having any great effect on the players as there was genuine unity shown.

That goal should have been the platform for success and I am sure I was not alone in thinking another goal was essential before they threw on the towering Smith who had terrorised our neighbours. We approached well and were a tad unlucky when and excellent move saw Pienaar have a shot which was just about reached by the sprawling keeper. Mirallas was still sprightly and his corner-taking first class as we attacked and, from one of his corners around the hour mark, the in-rushing Osman was just a fraction late and the ball flew for a throw-in. A right near miss that.

At this point, they threw on Smith – all six-foot eighteen of him and the faithful clapped him after his demolition of the neighbours... I don't think we should have encouraged him!

Now what I hoped for was that we closed down and tackled as though at home to Man Utd and most danger could be dealt with at source. We did well at it for a while but, as the clock ticked down, and Oviedo replaced the limping Pienaar, we got deeper and deeper; now if us fans can see the risk in that, then why don't highly paid professionals?

When balls are pumped high into crowded boxes, class, quality, and status go right out of the window, whilst a lottery is the likely replacement. Smith got free at the back of the box, brought the ball down and then hit a shot that was superbly saved by Howard for a corner.

With 10 mins to go, we were humping it more and more but, on a few occasions, we did try to get it down and play a bit – in fact, we did have passages where we passed to the right-coloured shirts... none more so than when Gibson at last played a killer ball into the path of Jelavic striding on goal. Last season: easy nailed-on chance. This season: over the bar... oh dear.

Negative thoughts came into my mind as that should have sealed the game and knocked the fight out of Oldham but the miss galvanised them more and, on a quick break, they beat the offside trap and the attacker was one-on-one with Howard. He must score... he fired – Howard parried wide, and the attacker's follow-up hit the side netting.

It was a stark warning unfortunately not heeded and, into 4 mins of added time, we parked the bus but far too deep and our clearances could only find Oldham players who readily put bombs into our box. We had no out ball as our entire team was in the box.

With less than 2 mins to go, we brought the tall Duffy on for Jelavic. You could see the logic but it was also saying "Get as many balls in as you like – we ain't coming out." Sometimes this works but it is a gamble and today it backfired as, with the final kick of the game, a corner entered our six-yard box with all the wrestling and mayhem unchecked and Smith afforded a free jump for the ball... Oh dear, he connected – we have a replay. MotM — Jagielka

Overall, I thought we let ourselves down by paying them to much respect; certainly they had to be matched for work rate and endeavour but I thought our undoubted superior class and quality was not on show as much as it should be. It could be attributed in parts to below-par performances from the likes of Neville, who looked shell-shocked at times, as well as Osman being no more than a bit-part player when he should have been a creative influence.

Pienaar was very in and out and, to me, he has been out of sorts for most of the season but the reason escapes me. Add Jelavic to the list with his goal shyness and maybe these are the reasons for our patchy period. We had a good start to the season; are we now to have a dip, ie, an upside-down season? Still, a night out a week on Wednesday and who knows in the cup – it's always been a rocky road... Ask Arsenal.

With Neville having a mare it is often said someone from the crowd could do better... Well today that would have worked well as Hibbo was in our end.
UP THE BLUES

Reader Comments (20)

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer

About these ads

---

, placement: 'Below Article Thumbnails', target_type: 'mix' });